The Fruit of Our LaborLove is the fruit of our labour;Surely the toil of our days shall endBeyond the fruit of this earth;Though the hand that sows the seed is born o f the soilAnd must return to the soil;Yet the eye that sees the light is born of the sunAnd shall return to the sun;And as stars in the fields of the nightOur souls scattered in darknessSprout forth into Light;Out of the sands of ExperienceAnd the waters of TimeLove breathes Life into the SeedAnd the Fruit of our Labour is LOVE.

Agapé Gardens. and Artizen Kombucha

Our STORY

Sebastien and Dasha met in the community garden in Ottawa. First we became friends united by the passion for growing gardens and all things sustainable. With time we decided to embark on a journey of creating a family together.

Our ultimate dream was a sustainable house on our own land where we can grow food and inspire others to lead a more eco friendly lifestyle. We were originally looking at Wakefield, Almonte and Perth to settle. In 2012 we fell in love with a 7 acre property near Perth, Ontario. We called our land and our beginnings AGAPE GARDENS - which means Gardens of Love. Agape stands for the highest form of love of a Creator towards human beings. Agape also means a gathering around the table. All suitable and perfect definitions of our journey for manifesting love, happiness and community!

The first year and a half on the land we devoted to creating abundant permaculture gardens on the land. We brought in heavy equipment to shape the contours of our gardens to capture the most sunshine and water possible in a way that would maximize yield, and minimize our human input (Geoff Lawton and Sepp Holzer school of Permaculture and AgroEcology). We hosted our first interns and signed up for our first farmers market season.

Our journey into food making commercially started with a failed attempted at growing and processing mushrooms. Instead we had an abundant crop of Kale, that we turned into the most delicious kale chips, which became a hit at the local farmers market. Wanting to meet demand, we expanded to offering gluten free crackers made with produce from our gardens, as well as gluten free cookies, muffins and much more.

With the rise in demand for our products, we had to prioritize where we wanted to put our energy. We chose products we really loved making. We also joined the Two rivers food hub, which allowed us to create our food in a health unit certified commercial kitchen. This meant we could now sell to coffee shops, stores, retail spaces and the word quickly went around about us!

2015 was all about really delving into Kombucha. Which then lead to later in 2016 creation of a separate flag for it: ARTIZEN KOMBUCHA. The Art and Zen of fermentation, of creating bio available, pure organic beverage!

All products we have ever offered were always an extension of our personal lifestyle. Dasha first started making and drinking Kombucha or Chayniy grib (as we call it in Russia) with her Grandmother in Tyumen, Siberia. Her Grandmother always had jars going with different cultures from kefir to kombucha! Dasha was fascinated by the cultures and eagerly helped in the process of making it. Eventually Dasha was making her own kefir by herself as well. It was love at first sight with the art of fermentation!

Sebastien was introduced to kombucha by his organically minded friends in his early 20s. It was part of his personal transformation and change to a holistic lifestyle. Making kombucha quickly became an art for Sebastien, and a true calling!

In 2017 we moved our Kombucha brewery from Two Rivers Food Hub to Perth, Ontario. This was also the year we opened our house to the first ever meeting of local kombucha brewers. In an effort to unite us and create a cool craft scene (similar to beer brewing craft scene) we invited local kombucha companies to a private gathering. This is how most of us became friends! Collaboration over competition!Everything we do is about creating community.

In 2018 we sponsored the first International Boochfest (Ottawa, On) and we joined the International Kombucha Brewers Association.

We have worked really hard, and created great relationships not only with kombucha brewers, and our customers but also with the many locations that carry ARTIZEN KOMBUCHA. It really feels like we have created an Artizen kombucha family.

We bring our kombucha far and wide covering Ottawa, Almonte, Carleton Place, Franktown, Smiths Falls, Perth, Kingston, and Toronto. In the summer and fall we do the Carp Farmers Market, as well as many local awesome events. We do deliver to individuals as well weekly into Ottawa. Check out our Online Store page for details.

We often joke that we do it all for the happiness of our customers! Hearing so much beautiful positive feedback from people is what fuels our passion. We are always so excited to come up with healthy unique flavours infused with whole ingredients that would help our customers thrive in an age of malnutrition.

We ourselves are obsessed with purity and simplicity, using nature's best.Our process is always from scratch, done with much care and integrity. Our unique recipes and everything we have created to date is our pride and joy.We are very happy to share it with you!Infused with love. Always!